City of San Luis, Religious Land Use Abuses, Arizona 2023

Crime grips the small town of San Luis, Arizona, as the City of San Luis faces allegations of Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) abuses.

The Justice Department filed a statement of interest in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, explaining that a church’s claims under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (RLUIPA) are ready for judicial review in federal court.

The lawsuit, Gethsemani Baptist Church v. City of San Luis, alleges that the City of San Luis imposed a substantial burden on the religious exercise of Gethsemani Baptist Church (the Church) and treated the Church less favorably than secular institutions.

The lawsuit further alleges that the Church has operated a Food Ministry on its property as part of its religious exercise since 1999, serving thousands of people in need, but that the City recently became hostile to the Church, claiming its use of its property and semi-trucks to deliver food and supplies to the Ministry violated the City’s zoning code.

City of San Luis, under RLUIPA, faces allegations of imposing a substantial burden on the religious exercise of Gethsemani Baptist Church and treating the Church less favorably than secular institutions. The City's actions allegedly led to the issuance of multiple citations to the Church’s pastor.

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division stated, “Churches have been on the front lines helping to alleviate hunger and meet the needs of those experiencing food insecurity across the country.”

The Justice Department’s statement of interest refutes the City's claim that the Church's RLUIPA claims could not proceed, asserting that the Church is not required to apply for a conditional use permit and that doing so would have been futile.

The statement also argues that the Church has sufficiently shown the City’s ability to conduct an “individualized assessment” of the Church's use of the property as required by RLUIPA.

RLUIPA is a federal law that protects religious institutions from unduly burdensome or discriminatory land use regulations. The Justice Department has filed statements of interest in other RLUIPA cases involving faith-based services to persons in need, including in Micah’s Way v. City of Santa Ana (Central District of California) and St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church et al. v. City of Brookings (District of Oregon).

The City of San Luis's actions against Gethsemani Baptist Church and its Food Ministry have sparked controversy in the community, with many calling for the City to respect the Church's right to operate its ministry.

The Justice Department's statement of interest in this case is a significant development in the ongoing battle to protect the rights of religious institutions under RLUIPA.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/justice-department-files-statement-interest-religious-land-use-case-involving-arizona-food